Adult Supervision
by RenaRoo
Summary: When all of the adult superheroes of Gotham are mysteriously gone, the teen heroes are left with the ultimate dilemma: who is in charge?


Prompt (anonymous): "Unexpected Leader" and Cassandra Cain? Please and thank you!

I actually got really inspired by this idea, we'll see if it gets made to anything more in the future! Thanks, anon!

Batman and related properties © DC Comics  
story © RenaRoo

 **Adult Supervision**

She landed on the corner of the Belfry's lone balcony with silence and grace, the kind she lifted more from a ballet studio than from a dojo. The precision of the difference was lost on most, but it meant everything to her.

Moves that _created_ rather than _destroyed._ It was that fine line that had come to inspire her since she first met Batman.

Since she first became a part of the Gotham landscape.

The others were already gathered around – what _others_ were left, that was. Tim was at the center, Stephanie not far from him. Duke and Harper were leaned over the computers – the former in full uniform, the latter without so much as a shoulder pad. And in the outskirts, Damian hid beneath cape and hood as much as possible, balancing in the shadows with Maya by his side.

Cassandra neared the gathering and ripped off her mask, letting her expression speak for itself rather than leave those less familiar with her and the Belfry guessing.

Stephanie looked apprehensive. "Nothing?" she clarified.

Shaking her head once, Cass crossed her arms. It felt like a failure, to search all she knew of Gotham and not find so much as a _trace_ of other heroes.

No Jean-Paul, no Luke, no Dick, no Barbara…

 _No Kate. No Bruce._

Tim quickly put a hand to his chin and began pacing in thought. "This makes little sense. Which tends to make me lean toward _magic._ Magic tends to make things more complicated. But it's hard to think of anyone who would have enough power to cause _every hero_ in Gotham to disappear."

"Tt," Damian hissed from above, dropping to a landing closer to the group with Maya following. " _I_ am still here, Drake. Obviously not _every_ hero has gone off the map."

"Same with the rest of us," Stephanie continued, putting a hand on her hip. "There seems to be an age limit to what this affecting. Clayface, Azrael, Batwing, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman, Batman… They're the oldest heroes in Gotham."

Harper turned in her chair, raising a brow at them all. "Uh, _non_ -hero present, but there's more than that. We're missing _Catwoman, Mother Panic, Gotham, Gotham Girl–"_

"Alright, I think we get it," Duke said, raising his hands and pressing for everyone to calm down. "There's no adult supervision right now. And we don't know why." He looked back toward Tim. "Any suggestions on what we do until then?"

Almost immediately, the room erupted with suggestions from each member.

Cassandra blinked in surprise at how quickly things became disorganized, and how easy it was to see who was falling to what sides. Duke and Tim were arguing with occasional spiteful input from Damian that was far more concerned with putting their ideas _down_ than anything productive. Maya stood behind Damian with ferocity, ready to take his side in any final decision while commenting on how Harper needed to go home. Stephanie was aggravated with her voice being lost in the noise and she instinctively got out her bo and moved toward Harper and the computers, looking for something immediate to focus her attention on.

Harper, though, was looking at Cass, as if she knew the cacophony of noise was nearly indecipherable. The look on Harper's face gave Cassandra something to focus on, gave her body language directed her way. And all she needed to see was the seriousness put forward by Harper's eyes.

Taking a breath, Cassandra looked toward the increasingly volatile group before her and took steps forward.

"We should be looking for what happened to the others!"

"There's too much crime going on in the city right now. We need to follow protocol."

"Tt. I'd be better off leading my Titans to _both_ missions simultaneously. Leave this to Nobody, Goliath and myself."

Using a few quick taps, almost faster than the average eye could follow, Cass caused Duke, Tim, and Damian to collapse on the floor in a heap.

This immediately ruffled up Maya and got the other girls' attentions. "I knew I didn't trust you!" Maya growled before going invisible and beginning to attack. A smart move, giving Cass little body language to work off of, but fortunately Cass had run similar simulations in the Mud Room several times before.

One never knew when they might face off with Gentleman Ghost, after all.

Cass quickly evaded Maya's signature leading punch, then pulled Damian's hooded cape off of him before he had time to get to his feet or protest. With a modified pirouette, wrapped the young Nobody in the cape and sent her crashing into the heap of boys.

"What the hell, Cass?" Tim groaned, rubbing the back of his neck as he and Duke sat up.

Ignoring Tim for a moment, she glanced instead toward Harper and Stephanie, who responded by scoring the pirouette with a ten and a nine respectively.

"Everyone… _Stop!"_ Cass ordered fiercely, making sure to give a cutting look to the four most combative. "We're… _family._ We're… _team."_

They looked at her, somewhat stunned. A look that only grew to befuddlement as she offered the four on the ground her two hands.

Duke and Tim took her left, Damian and Maya took her right and she hoisted them up.

"We work together," she continued, heart racing with the anxiety of trying to put so much into so few words. She gave it her all, though. "We can follow orders _and…_ can look for others." Her confidence grew with the strength of her voice and then she offered a confident smirk. "We're… _detectives."_

There was a mutual silence for a moment before Damian released her hand with his typical _Tt._ "And who will take charge? I nominate myself–"

"Cass," Harper said, sitting backwards in her computer chair. "Obviously. You all are being babies and have your pet projects you want to work on instead of working together. She's the only one who can get you all to straighten up."

"Come and say that to my face, Row!" Damian dared.

"I just did!" Harper said back before Stephanie stepped up.

"I'm with Harper on this one," Stephanie said. "Something _weird_ is going on. But the city _also_ can't be unprotected. And, well, the one person here who can read us all in an instant and assign us to the best tasks is Cass."

Cassandra felt her cheeks light up. "I… didn't mean… I…"

"I stick with the gold-and-black," Duke joked, offering Cass his fist to bump, which she returned a bit too hard.

"Well any vote now would be–" Tim began to say, counting on his fingers before Stephanie elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow! Okay, yeah. Cass, you're the one who should take point for all of us here. Tell us what to do and where to go."

Suddenly, Cassandra had six sets of eyes looking to her. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. _This_ must have been how Batman felt.

"Okay," Cass said, pulling her mask over her face. "Time to… get _started."_


End file.
